GREGORY CHANDLER- Vitamin K2

Many do not realize that bone is a living tissue.  Bone constantly forms and breaks down by binding or releasing calcium.  As long as bones form more than break down, bones stay strong.  Vitamin K, one of the lesser known vitamins, is essential for binding calcium to bone.

In one study, 244 healthy postmenopausal women took 180 mcg off vitamin K2 per day or a placebo.  After three years, lumbar-spine bone mineral density in the placebo group had declined by 1.5 percent while the K2 group had lost less than one-half percent. 

In order to bind calcium, bone produces a protein called osteocalcin.  Researchers measured levels of circulating inactive osteocalcin, where high levels signal bone is breaking down.  After the three-year study, there was a 4 percent increase in inactive osteocalcin levels for placebo while the vitamin K group had a 50 percent decrease, signaling better bone formation. 


GREGORY CHANDLER, Attorney at Law